【VG】LIVE REPORT｜Vocal Summit at Shibuya REX 2018.08.04

On August 4, in the sizzling hot, sold-out venue of Shibuya REX, RYO, TAKUMA, YU+KI, and TAKAYUKI TAZAWA, four of the most talented vocalists who have engraved their names in visual-kei history through their array of past and present bands, presented their colorful voices alongside splendid band members.
The fervent cheers of the audience arose from the floor, as the SE flowed through the venue, signaling the start of the show. As the curtains drew up, the special band members were already on stage standing by at their position. The special band members were Miyo Ken (guitar)(Kiyoharu, Buck-Tick), Ju-ken(bass)(Sengoku Jidai, Anna Tsuchiya), kiyo (keyboard)(Janne Da Arc), and, Masanori “cherry” Koyanagi a.ka. “cherry” (drums)(LINDBERG). The first to hit the stage among the vocalists was RYO (KING), whom was the eldest of the four.
燦燦と照りつける真夏の太陽に負けないぐらいの熱気がソールドアウトの渋谷REXを包んだ８月４日。この日、豪華なバンドメンバーを迎え、ビジュアル系の歴史において各々のバンドを通してその名を刻んできた４人のボーカリストが集結し、それぞれの持ち前の歌声を披露した。
SEが流れ始めた会場に満杯のフロアから声援が鳴り響く。カーテンが上がると、この日限定のバックバンドが既にスタンバイしており、三代堅（みよ けん/Gu：清春、Buck-Tick）、Ju-ken（じゅけん/Ba：戦国時代、土屋アンナ）、kiyo（きよ/Key：Janne Da Arc）そして、小柳“cherry”昌法（こやなぎ”cherry”まさのり/Dr：LINDBERG）と、豪華なバンド面子を迎え、トップバッターを飾ったのは４人のボーカリストの中で最年長のRYO（KING）だった。

＜RYO ＞
RYO fired up the audience right away as he appeared on stage shouting, “Thanks for comin’~! Ready set GO-!!” As in his MC, RYO mentioned as he wore a black top and red cardigan this day, which was not his usual attire, because the atmosphere for this day was special. In a sense, for RYO as well as for the other three vocalists, this day was in many ways “more special” than any other day of their live performances. RYO, with his manly, deep, and tender voice, sung a total of five songs, including the rhythmical and romantic “nowhere” (LAID) that he has been singing for almost two decades, and one of the songs from his present band KING, “Always”, a powerful ballad RYO vibrantly sang. Along with his original songs, RYO sang three cover songs, “glamorous sky” (Mika Nakashima) at the beginning of his set, “Korogaru Ishi” (Atsushi Nakamura/KATZE) which had a good balance of serenity and vibrance, and at the end RYO chose to sing the well-known “Glorious” (GLAY) so that everybody in the venue could enjoy, and he made the venue erupt in laughter as he entertained the audience with his impersonation of TERU(GLAY) and Kyosuke Himuro. Throughout his set, RYO wore a relaxed smile, entertaining and warming up the audience with an energetic and uplifting atmosphere for the next vocalist to come.
＜RYO＞
会場を盛り上げるように、登場してすぐに「宜しくどうぞ～！いこうかぁー！！」と煽るRYO。この日は、本人もMCで、当日用に用意した黒いタンクトップに赤いカーディガンを纏い、いつもとは雰囲気が違うと言っていたように、RYO始めとする、他3人にとっても色々な意味でこの日はいつもとは「違う」のだ。雄々しく、ディープで、どこか物腰柔らかな色気を漂わせる声が特徴的なRYO。自らが２０年に渡り歌ってきた曲、リズミカルでロックテイストな「nowhere」（LAID）や現行で活動しているKINGの力強いバラード「Always」（KING）以外に、トップで披露した女性ボーカルの「glamorous sky」（中島美嘉）、続いた静と動が混在した「転石（ころがるいし）」（中村敦/KATZE）や、トリで(TERUや氷室京介の)ものまねなどで盛り上げを見せたお客さんを考えて選曲したという「グロリアス」（GLAY）と、普段では聴けないであろう曲達が連なった。終始、くだけた笑顔を見せながらMCでフロアを楽しませ、次のボーカリスト迎え入れるべく、エンジンをかけるかのように、エネルギッシュで躍動感あるライブを披露した。

<TAKUMA>

Next up was TAKUMA second vocalist & bassist of wyse. In his solo activities, he has written numerous seasonal songs, so, for his set, he sang two of his refreshing summer songs, “Feel” and “Blue Moment” were the best choices to cool off the steaming hot venue before he continued with CHAGE&ASKA’s poppy “Love Song”. After the three songs, TAKUMA gave a brief emcee with his soft-spoken voice about collaborating with one of the other vocalists. In his usual solo activities, he often does duets with Takayuki Tazawa, though this day he welcomed YU+KI to sing “I believe” (wyse), presenting a beautifully harmonized duet that had the venue appreciate the song. Collaboration between vocalists is probably one of the best part of events like this since it is rare to see vocalists perform together in other events. Before the last song, TAKUMA talked about his band wyse. Upon entering their 20 -year anniversary next year, TAKUMA mentioned in the emcee that, “To continue a band, in terms of deciding to continue activities or not is not easy since we do not know what will happen in the future. But, as we encounter many relations, both good and bad, the best part of continuing is that we (the audience and stage) had the opportunity to meet each other through what we love, which is music.” With the heartful emcee, TAKUMA ended his live with his gentle song “W”.

＜YU+KI>
In contrast to TAKUMA’s composed stage, YU+KI(Sengoku Jidai) swept the floor up with an aggressive stage presence. From the start, the venue was engulfed in wildly flickering lights as YU+KI and his fellow guitar partner Koshirou (Apes From Nine), fired up the stage. Though YU+KI’s set list were all songs from SIAM SHADE, YU+KI made a brilliant effort to make it the stage his own, singing the 5 songs in imposed manner. The visuals and staging were, needless to say, very resplendent, and with the fans energetically pumping up their fists, the venue was enveloped in a heated atmosphere. From “Can’t Forget get”, to one of the signature songs of SIAM SHADE, “PASSION”, YU+KI got the floor fired up, and after a brief emcee, the venue escalated its vigor in the next “PRIDE”. In the song, Koshiryo presented his guitar solo, and as YU+KI shook up the floor with his shouts, he also intrigued the venue with his firm and lengthy voice. “I would like to sing this next song with someone. Can I bring him in?” was the cue for RYO to show up. The duet with RYO was performed along with Miyo ken’s acoustic guitar, and the song, “Dareka no kimochi wo kangaeta koto arimasuka?(Have you ever thought about one’s feelings?)” had the floor in laughter as the two superimposed their own stories of they talked about right before the song. After the duet, YU+KI never let his energy go down as he sang the last song, a fiery rock number, “Don’t Tell Lies”, presenting a fulfilling energetic stage until the end.
＜YU＋KI＞
穏やかなTAKUMAとは打って変わって、YU+KI（戦国時代）は攻めのステージを魅せた。最初から刺激的なライトに浴びせられ、ギターの耕史朗(Apes From Nine)を加え、YU＋KIは登場した。全曲SIAM SHADEという驚きのセットリストでありながらも、自身の曲のように堂々とした赴きで5曲を歌い上げた。ビジュアル、ステージングにおいて華やかにステージを彩り、フロアも拳を上げるなど、会場は熱気に包まれた。「Can’t Forget get」から、多くに馴染み深い「PASSION」でYU+KIがフロアを煽り、エネルギッシュにフロアが応えると、短いMCを挟み、「PRIDE」で煽りがエスカレート。耕史朗もギターソロを披露し、YU+KIはシャウトでフロアを奮い立たせながらも、輪郭ある、延びのいい歌声を聴かせてくれた。再びMCが始まると、「（TAKUMA同様）一緒に歌いたい人がいる。呼んでいいですか？」と、呼んで現れたのはRYOだった。RYOとのデュエットはMiyo kenのアコースティックギターのみで、曲名「誰かの気持ちを考えた事がありますか？」でコントのようなデュエットを披露し、会場は笑いに包まれた。YU+KIはその勢い衰える事なく、激しめのロック「Don’t Tell Lies」で、最後まで活気に満ちたステージを披露してくれた。

<TAKAYUKI TAZAWA>

The member to hit the stage last was TAKAYUKI TAZAWA (Rayflower). TAZAWA’s fans portray his stage as, “TAZA-WORLD” and, it isn’t too much to say, but the atmosphere he creates on stage is “TAKAYUKI TAZAWA” himself. The stage he presented this day had that atmosphere despite a different environment from his usual solo lives, as it was his first time to perform band style with his songs he released this year. TAZAWA’s set was a mix of “TAZA-WORLD” and the band. As he sang his positively refreshing “Wave Rider” and the nostalgic “Canary”, “TAZA-WORLD” emerged during the emcee as TAZAWA is a singer known for his extensive emcees. As he talked about how he had not been informed about the other duets, he expressed regret for not having an opportunity to participate in one himself. He also talked about past songs he has covered, such as Michael Jackson’s “Beat it” since the other vocalists had each covered one or two songs during their sets. And so, by request of the organizer of the event, TAZAWA sang “Rainy Blue”(Hideaki Tokunaga). The floor listened quietly as they appreciated the song in the serene venue. Following was the tranquil “Akai okina tsuki no yoru” which TAZAWA gently sang, and after a brief emcee, his live ended with “Kokora bokurano”.

It was a special day, much like that of the lyrics “never before seen scenery” of the last song. TAZAWA gestured as he sang, turning his hand towards the band and the audience, which many who have witnessed the scenery this day give a nod to his gesture.

In contrary to the event title “Vocal Summit”, the encore was a bit different. At the organizer’s suggestion, each vocalist was given a part to play “GLORIA”(ZIGGY). A special band was formed by the talented vocalists, with RYO as the main vocalist, YU+KI on guitar, TAKUMA on bass, and TAZAWA on drums. Before the encore song, the vocalists had had a talk session where the talkative Kansai group took over the emcee having the venue erupt in laughter. After the encore song, the members of the support band were called out one by one to give respect. After commemorative photos were taken of the musicians with the packed floor in the background, the band members lined up to take a bow, bidding farewell, and left the stage.
「Vocal Summit」というイベント名とは裏腹に、主催者の提案でアンコールは4人がそれぞれパートを担当し、バンド形式でZIGGYの「GLORIA」を演奏。裏腹と言えど、ボーカルRYO、ギターYU＋KI、ベースTAKUMA、そしてドラムに田澤孝介。この日ならではの貴重なセッションで、関西勢が３人と長崎１人と、関西色が濃いトークも繰り広げられ、最後まで笑いが絶えず、会場は終始賑やかだった。最後に、この日限りのバンドメンバーを一人ずつ呼び込み、記念撮影し、出演者全員お辞儀でライブを締めくくると、終わりを惜しみつつ、ステージを後にした。It was the first time to attempt such an event, “Vocal Summit”. As many had been anticipating the event, it was sold out and the venue was packed to the back. For the members on stage, it must have been a magnificent view, being able to witness the anticipation from the audience. As TAZAWA said in one of his emcees, “ I think all of us vocalists were able to present the talent each of us holds through this live, and I believe that the best part of this event is that, through this event, we are able to connect through music, enlarging the connection of diverse music.” In an event like this, a fan is not only able to see their favorite artist, but it is also a good chance to get to know other artists which made me firmly believe that this is the key to expand the connection of music.
There are talks that there will be a second version of “Vocal Summit”, and anticipations are high for the second event to come!
初めての試みで開催された、「Vocal Summit」。多くがこのイベントを期待していたのを物語る様に、会場は満員御礼で、ステージから見たその景色は絶景だったのではないだろうか。
「４人それぞれの特色を発揮できたと思う。こうやって、新しい音の輪ができて、（輪が）大きくなるのもこのイベントの一つの醍醐味だと思う。」と、田澤がMCで語っていたように、イベントは推しのアーティストだけではなく、そこで参加しているアーティストを知る絶好の機会で、そんなきっかけこそ、音の輪を広げる鍵となると痛感したライブだった。
Vocal Summit第二弾の話が出ているようで、これもまた期待したい。